Mirage or Seneca V?

[A1FlyBoy]

Hey All,

The side business I work for is buying their first airplane. It will be either a Mirage or Seneca V. Flying will be split 50/50 between business and pleasure. Routes will be from suburban Chicago to West Palm Beach, FL, the islands, Houston, Vegas and LA.

Obviously there will be rest/fuel stops made on these trips. The dilema I'm fighting is over twin vs. pressurized. It sure would be nice to not need o2 masks, but then again a second engine is nice for island trips/western states and logging twin time is great.

Trips will typically total 3 or 4 people( including pilot) on board with light baggage.

What is your input??

 

[banned username 2]

In this market you could probably find a decent used King Air C90 for about the same price as a New Mirage. Then you would have not only pressurization and two engines but also turbine reliability.

 

[A1FlyBoy]

It is between the Mirage and Seneca V.

 

[Dragonbravo]

Just curious as to why you are limited to those two aircraft?

 

[banned username 2]

Just curious as to why you are limited to those two aircraft?

I was wondering the same thing, but he didn't seem to want to elaborate. Oh well...

Maybe those are the only ones he can get insured on and doesn't want to loose his job opportunity.

 

[mainah]

GO Mirage, better plane

 

[Lrjtcaptain]

Mirage-good ones fly higher and faster then the seneca

Seneca-Two engines if you need that second one.

 

[sydeseet]

I've flown both so here's my scoop.

The Seneca is nothing more than a cheap imitation of a Baron. I didn't like their SE "performance", the view from the front seats is very limited, and they're absolute dogs to fly in my opinion. I'd skip it altogether and buy a used Baron for the same money.

The Mirage is a dream of a single engine airplane. True, only one engine pulling you along, but they have been VERY reliable and at FL 230 you can glide across Texas with the engine cut. I think I would rather lose the engine on the Mirage than on the Seneca - sounds crazy but you're coming down either way. I've dodged T-Storms, handled Icing, stiff cross-winds, and all the other glorious aspects of flying with no problem. The baggage room is adequate for a few folks as long as they don't want to ski, fish, snorkel, and hunt on the same trip.

Drop the Seneca V from your sights and get the Mirage. I'm sure they are readily available on the market. If your principal is set on a piston twin a used Baron is a great performer with much less complexity than the Seneca.

Have Fun!!!!!!

 

[planejanes]

My guess is that the owner is going to buy new and wants to take advantage of the new bonus deduction tax incentive. I think it will allow the purchaser to deduct up to like 60% of the cost of the plane the first year! Not available on a used purchase.